Synopsis

What does an American and a Russian perspective on Afghanistan look like? Here we throw together the old Cold War rivals on a double bill and let them cinematically fight it out amongst themselves.

Rambo III

Rambo III probably needs little introduction: the man of muscle, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), gets embroiled in the Afghan war against the Soviets as he sets out to save his friend. 9th Company takes young Russian recruits and throws them into the war in Afghanistan. What we want to offer here are a couple of films that not only show an outside point of view of Afghanistan in terms of the stories told, but also geographically as well.

9th Company

9th Company, made in 2005, was filmed in the Crimea by Fyodor Bondarchuk; Rambo III, from 1987, in Israel and Jordan by (the British) Peter MacDonald. What sort of Afghan world does American and Russian film making create when so obviously shooting elsewhere, and what sort of personality do they credit Afghans with possessing? To find out, come along - and at the same time enjoy some big-budget mayhem!